This book is packed with excellent advice and some radical insights into how to lead in a church setting. I found myself questioning whether everything Hybels was saying was relevant to a small local church, but I think he just longs to see churches growing into larger churches. There were times when I'd also worry that he was losing focus on the power of God's sovereignty and the power of the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives, but he doesn't underestimate either – in fact, he is just espousing the fact that the gift of leadership should be exercised well and that this gift itself is from the Holy Spirit. Hybels comes across as someone who is exceedingly passionate about the church – both local and universal – and quite rightly describes it as the hope of the world, but he also is open, honest, and humble about his past weaknesses and how leaders should respond to their own. This is not an expository book, but it was not meant to be: this is a book which takes the serious subjects of communicating a vision, putting a strategy in place, working with a team, and encouraging and equipping new leaders. If 'communicating a vision' sounds wishy-washy and a little American, then I agree with you. I found myself worrying that the reader could take Hybel's advice and shape a church around a vision which isn't related at its core to the gospel. Thankfully, Hybels, at every point I doubted him, came to the fore with a strong emphasis on reaching out to the lost. In fact, he starts with a powerful point: amidst the chaos and hurt of the world, it is the church which brings redemptive potential, and which has the power to completely transform people's lives. ( )

While reading Courageous Leadership it became clear that Bill Hybels sought to run the church like a God-oriented business. While this maximized the efficiency of his ministry, it seems to have lost what makes the church a unique entity in the world while creating a large but distanced group of worshippers. Many of Hybels strategies for leadership are good on their own, it is simply when they are taken to the degree Hybels has taken them that they begin to look like a corporatization of the church rather than a way of building up the community of God. ( )

This is a Christ centered book. Its thesis is that the local Christian church is the chief means on earth for transforming the world into a better one where peace and goodwill can abound among humankind. While leadership may not be the most important component in the local church, it is one component that is absolutely critical to the church's successful mission- - that of bringing about a better world through the positive transformation of human kind, one person at a time. Leadership enables the church, through Jesus Christ to positively impact not only the here and now for humankind but also for souls' heavenward journey to be with God eternally and receive His blessings. The book is credible. It is based not only on the author's knowledge gained from public and private education. It is also, and primarily, based on what the author applied in his leadership role in a large expansive church. The book is authentic in revealing that some approaches failed, but many more succeeded. ( )

Wikipedia in English (2)

The book you hold resonates with this conviction: that leaders such as you have the potential to be the most influential forces on planet Earth. Yours is the staggering responsibility and the matchless privilege of rallying believers and mobilizing their spiritual gifts in order to help people who are far from God become fully devoted followers of Christ. Life transformation and the eternal destinies of real people depend on the redemptive message entrusted to the local church. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to lead your church effectively so God's message of hope can change the world? Then this book is for you. Courageous Leadership is Bill Hybels' magnum opus, a book far too important to be written before its time. Only now, after nearly thirty years leading his own church from a handful of people with a burning vision into a globe-spanning kingdom force---only after almost three decades of victories and setbacks, of praying hard and risking big---is Hybels ready at last to share the lessons he has learned, and continues to learn, about Christian leadership. Too much is at stake for you not to maximize your spiritual gift of leadership, insists Hybels. In this passionate, powerful book, he unpacks the tools, tasks, and challenges of your calling. You'll discover the power of vision and how to turn it into action. You'll gain frontline insights for developing a kingdom dream team, discovering your leadership style, developing other leaders, making decisions, walking with God, embracing change, staying your God-given course, and much, much more. Drawing on his own richly varied life experiences, Hybels fleshes out vital principles with riveting firsthand stories. This is far more than another book on leadership strategies and techniques. You'll find those topics in here, to be sure. But beyond them, you'll find the very essence of one of today's foremost Christian leaders---his fervent commitment to evangelism and discipleship and his zeal to inspire fellow church leaders even as he seeks to keep growing as a leader himself. If unchurched people matter to you . . . if you love seeing believers serve passionately with their spiritual gifts . . . if God's heartbeat for the church is your heartbeat as well . . . then this book is a must. Courageous Leadership will convince you to lead with all your might, all your skill, and all your faith. And it will give you the tools to do just that.